


Joint Custody

by BleedingCoffee



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: M/M, and then is there for season 2, au where prime lorca takes discovery home from mirror universe, i had them banter in another fic and accidentally started shipping them, listen if you click after reading those tags i apologize for nothing, lorcas being critical but with good intentions?, pike is being nice about it because he's a guest and also into getting yelled at, prime lorca
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-27 13:15:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30123324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BleedingCoffee/pseuds/BleedingCoffee
Summary: Season 2 if Prime Lorca was there to share custody of Discovery with Pike instead.  And if Lorca/Pike was a ship.   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Relationships: Gabriel Lorca | Mirror Gabriel Lorca/Christopher Pike
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Is this out of character? Sure! Self Indulgent! Absolutely! Being released into the fandom with no shame? YUP. If Spock can rock out to Spongebob on Paramount Mounatin, I can have them sing Toto on Disco!
> 
> I was writing banter for another fic and this happened. They shipped themselves. I mean...HOW is this a rarepair? This is fanfiction, baby! Who cares if they never interacted in canon, were not on the same season, or even in the same universe! Indulge with me!
> 
> This was going to be a oneshot. Just dump it all and let you all deal with it. However, after 10,000 words it got to the point where I had to admit it was more than just a one shot. It might be a whole season. Chapter titles are episodes, because it was easier to timeline things that way. 
> 
> Posting because I need them out of my head so I can get back to the fic I was working on.

_Joint Custody_

Chapter 1

**Prologue**

* * *

Katrina Cornwell had always been impressed with what Gabriel Lorca could do with his chaotic nature: People who worked with him were loyal, people who crossed him were sorry, and people who loved him were lucky. 

He had managed to survive a mirror universe, and come back on the ship his imposter stole, and do it with the full support of it’s crew he just met. He helped win peace after fighting Starfleet to let him keep the command back and called them out on compromising their human decency by green-lighting Georgiou's plans to destroy the Klingon home world

After the war, he crafted a story of a ghost ship out of that experience- gaslighting the entire Federation into thinking the Discovery had been there the whole time. It could blink across the galaxy, appear where no warp drive could possibly reach, and then vanish just as fast. It's crew had come back from the dead. Nobody understood how it was powered, and there were rumors of a monster in its bowels. Nobody could find records of it’s missions, but plenty of people had been rescued or helped by the supposed Ghost ship. Klingons spoke of it in a hush, which she found out had to do with a ‘Tribble Transporter Mishap’ and less about Gabriel’s rumors, but the rest of Starfleet didn’t know that. Nobody transferred off the ship and nobody requested assignments there. As far as Starfleet was concerned, the Discovery _was_ a ghost ship.

Which was exactly what Gabriel intended. 

And she shouldn’t have been surprised when he weaponized those rumors and himself against a visiting Captain who was on special assignment. She was however surprised that said visiting Captain stayed long enough to see through it all to the real Gabriel. She was even more surprised when she received a mission report, months later, which was just a fucking photo of Gabriel  _ fucking _ Lorca touching Christopher ' _ Pride of Starfleet' _ Pike’s nipple while on one of Risa’s beaches. Pike was laughing and looking more alive than she had seen in years. 

Starfleet was never going to be the same, which was a good thing. They were due for an overhaul, a return to principles, and those two were the ones to do it.

One day she genuinely hoped she'd hear the real story about how it happened.


	2. Brother

_ Joint Custody _

Chapter 2

**Brother**

* * *

“Welcome aboard, Captain Pike.” Gabriel Lorca said as three figures materialized in the streams of gold on the transporter pods. He had to give it to Starfleet, the rumors were not wrong about how pretty Pike was-- he even managed to make that awful yellow uniform look good. “I’m Captain Lorca, how can I and the _Discovery_ be of assistance?”

"Well, captain, this is awkward…" Chris moved to step forward but Lorca's tone made him pause.

"I'd say that breaking the most unbreakable ship in the fleet is going to be pretty damned awkward to explain to command.". Gabriel said as he interrupted what was obviously going to be Chris Pike's charming cowboy take on how he was going to saddle up a new horse at the way station to carry him to his destination. He could read it on his face, he wasn’t here for assistance, he wanted a new ship. Gabriel crossed his arms over his chest and raised his eyebrows, waiting for him to continue.

Chris smiled, nodded his head in approval of Lorca’s perceptive eye and ability to read where this was going. He stepped off the transporter pad to get closer, more personal, and noted that Lorca only raised his eyebrows at him in response. Normally people were warmed up by the gesture, maybe a little warmed by his smile. Lorca looked unamused by everything. "Well, back in Mojave I learned the best way to get into a cold stream was to jump in."

And there it was--cowboy wisdom. "Are you telling me you need a cold shower after one look at me or my ship?"

Chris smirked. Lorca's reputation was well earned. Kat told him to let her break the news but he insisted on being the one do it. Well, two could play this game. He turned on full smile. "Captain Lorca, I'm going to need to _borrow_ your ship. I’m under Starfleet's direct order to take command of Discovery, under regulation 19 section C."

"After you just broke yours?" Gabriel snorted.

"I'm on a priority one mission." Chris smiled back. Everyone in the room was eating up the conversation. He really did not want to do this here.

"Mmmm." Lorca hummed and saw that get a reaction, Pikes smile flickered off for a brief second as his eyebrows rose at the sound. "Then why wasn't I notified?"

"I asked to deliver the news myself." Chris softened his voice. “Out of respect.”

"Practicing for that promotion, are we?" Gabriel countered.

"Practicing common decency.". Chris replied. "And as much as I understand and appreciate you not handing your ship over to the first person who asks for it, I have my orders."

"You're not just _anyone_ though. You're Christopher Pike, pride of Starfleet, patron saint of all Federation ideology, and have seniority. Right?"

"Not how I was going to approach that." Chris felt his smile fading, felt like he was scrambling to climb up a cliff with all his hand a footholds giving way. Kat was not exaggerating when she old him how this was going to go, in fact she nailed the conversation perfectly. He, personally, needed Lorca’s approval as he didn’t feel it good practice to pull rank or quote orders. Lorca was someone he wanted on his side, but it appeared that he was going to have to fight for that privilege. Just like Kat said….

"But it's the gist of what Kat said, right? Why she wanted to tell me herself because she knew this was going to have to come down to a fucking order?" Gabriel asked and they could hear the whine of the transporter pads in the silence of the room.

"Yeah." Chris relented. Maybe honesty would get him somewhere, the guy had a reputation for not appreciating the bureaucracy and bullshit.

"Let me get this straight. You tapped out a Morse code S.O.S _but_ Kat could still get on the line to give you a permission slip to take over my ship?" Gabriel laughed. “Nice.”

"Captain…". Chris stepped forward. "I'm just asking for a ride to my destination. I could really use the help of you and your crew to help me figure out what these red signals mean. If they are malicious or diplomatic."

"Well _ that _ was pretty diplomatic.". Gabriel hummed again. "Such a smooth transition from defensive to diplomatic that I might have missed it if I had been focused on those smooth cheeks and dimpled smile and not the fact that you're trying to put that fine ass in my chair and not on my lap."

Chris gave him a genuine smile. Even though it was meant as a call out of his tactics, he appreciated Lorca seeing through it so easily. Yeah, maybe seeing through his appreciative look over too. "And you're living up to your reputation of being a straight forward strategist with multiple personal wins over the admiralty in regards to tactics. I'd genuinely like your help with this, Captain Lorca. One side trip to see where this red light takes us and then I go back home."

"You're asking me to take you on a date to the red light district?". Gabriel asked and Pike's eyes softened, amusement and advertisement that that might not be out of the question. Alter boy really did like the tension brewing. He smirked back, because he was more than capable of turning up the charm too. "Well, how's a man supposed to refuse that offer?"

* * *

Gabriel was good. He was so good that he felt he deserved a commendation for following orders and letting Captain Pike run through his shitshow operation to chase his signal. Sure he appreciated his attempts to immediately charm the crew, the way he handled Tilly as she ‘accidentally’ brought up his personal records for everyone to see. He smiled when Pike flew them to an asteroid field and started yelling about his ‘damned read thing.’ He would evem give him a standing ovation for his little speech about ‘never leaving a man behind’, even if it was because he backed down when Burnham put him in his place. He definitely would be adding to his reputation for being a fine piece of ass after seeing him in a tight gold spacesuit. However it all ended there.

The fact that he picked the fight with Burnham in an attempt to prove he was the most noble one of them all, meant he missed how his bridge crew reacted to that implication that they would leave someone behind. Not this crew, not after the mirror universe. He chewed his cheek and watched the asteroids plink against the shields as Pike chose the hill he was going to die on: the implication that his crew would abandon anyone. And so it was downhill from there.

He was happy to be given command of his own ship again, but it was short lived joy because Pike himself was going to lead the away team. He wouldn’t fault the guy for being the 'lead from the front' type, delegating everything got old, but he could see this was about proving himself. That was something he wouldn’t tolerate in a fucking Starfleet captain. Pike left the bridge, he took his chair back, and the next thing he watched was golden boy shooting himself and team into space. He sat in his chair, listening to the science officer Connelly argue with Burnham, and ground his teeth. Then the universe intervened and obliterated Connelly with an asteroid- which saved Connelly a lecture about mansplaining to one of the most brilliant women in the universe. He was still planning to give Pike shit about having an insubordinate ass who couldn’t follow simple directions included on an away team, but the asteroid field beat the hell out of Pike’s pod for him. Gabriel rubbed his eyes as Pike’s pod got smashed, because this cowboy was on _his_ ship and thus _his_ responsibility. It took some tense and skilled work from  _ his people  _ to save him. Then it took Burnham risking her life to ensure he survived that brilliant maneuvering. Safely on solid ground, if you could call it that, Pike gets to his destination-another broken ship he found. All his cameras were focused on his glittering gold ass- thanks ladies- but he was on the edge of his seat as they walked right into the Hiawatha with weaponized robots as guides . And to top it off, Burnham gets left behind and severely injured, before Pike ran back to save her.

When it was time for a mission report to Starfleet, Gabriel ripped into Pike as he tried to compose something more flattering on his PADD. Something that wasn't about his reckless, selfish need to make up for sitting out the war. To make him and his bridge crew figure out how to save him. To put a positive spin on a disastrously impulsive rescue mission was not going to happen no matter how great Reno turned out to be. Red signals were obviously a warning sign to stop and think before acting like a cowboy instead of a captain. 

To his surprise, Pike agreed with him and promised to do better. Then he hit back with the 'maybe I still have things to learn' line as he told him he was going to be staying. The _Enterprise_ was so broken it was having to be towed to Starbase and wouldn't be ready to fly for a while. Perhaps they could agree to some kind of joint captaincy? Perhaps if he took the rightful blame for this  _ Hiawatha _ shit show, he could find a way to make this work?

He felt like he was already married to the guy and they were working out some argument. Which, unfortunately, meant that marriage counseling was exactly what was coming when he talked to Kat- The can't you be an adult and get along with a fellow officer, Gabriel?’ talk. Fine. Best make it because he deserved it, last thing he wanted was a pre-emptive talk about playing nice that could be construed as 'orders'.

But in the meantime, he was going to make Chris Pike want to leave  _ Discovery _ as soon as fucking possible. Before the damned crew adopted him, just like they adopted everyone. 

* * *

“It’s like we have two hot space Dads.” Tilly said as she ate dinner with Michael, Joann and Kayla. 

Kayla agreed. “The sexual tension is killing me.”

“I think the stress will kill Pike.” Joann added. 

“I think they should de-stress.” Tilly said, thoughtfully.

“Tilly, this is  _ not _ the  _ USS Sexual Discovery _ .” Michael reminded her.

“It is for me.” Tilly said. “And we like Lorca,  _ this _ Lorca, and we owe him one for getting us back home from Mirror Universe Hell.”

“Owe him….” Michael paused as she looked at the three ladies and their smirks. “You’re going to try and set up the captains?”

“Well, there is that little thing about ‘captain being the loneliest position’.” Tilly said. “And not dating the crew because of rank issues and power imbalance.”

“I never thought about it.” Michael admitted.

“ _ I  _ am going to be a captain.” Tilly said and pointed her fork at her. “ _ I  _ have thought about it, _in detail_.”

“But Lorca looked like he was trying to kill him with his glare alone on the bridge today.” Michael protested. “And Pike is...nice. He's honest about his problems. Lorca is just being protective and kind of mean.”

“Exactly.” Tilly said and stuck her fork in her bread. “Total opposites, that magnetic attraction of different polarities...mmm mmm mmm. Transporter room techs said the energy between them at first sight was cracklin’!”

“Do tell, Michael.” Kayla said. 

“Yes, do not make us ask Saru because it will be too technical.” Joann said. “Ruins the magic when he’s talking about engorged members and dilated pupils.”

“Tell us, Michael.” Tilly said and folded her hands on the table and smiled. “Or shall I use my new power within the CTP to pull up the feeds from the transporter room and get some popcorn?”

“Let’s ask Commander Nhan.” Kayla said and waved her over.

Michael shrank a little in her seat, embarrassed to be associated with this talk. 

“Ladies.” Nhan greeted and sat down next to Michael. “I assume this about Captain Pike?”

Michael looked at her surprised.

Nhan shrugged. “He’s single. However you’re all going to have to try harder to crack his ‘I can’t get inappropriate with my crew’ standards than hacking into his academy report cards.”

Tilly smiled. “It’s not for us, it’s for _our captain_. Beautiful blue eyes, kinda of an ass but makes up for it with his tight ass.”

“Oh?” Nhan said and looked around the table. “Oh. Well in that case-- _ yum yum _ .”

“You can’t be serious?” Michael said, appalled someone from the  _ Enterprise  _ would join in on this nonsense.

“Look, Pike is awesome. I know he and our Number One have some friends with benefits deal, and he’s flirty and game to fucking everyone from Captain on up, but those are just nights here and there. He needs someone. It was rough sitting out the war. He has way more gray hair. We’re worried if someone doesn’t do more than take him to bed and enjoy the ride, that he’s going to be dead before he’s 50 because of everything he decides he has to carry on his shoulders. So yeah, you think your captain is going to give my captain something more, then I’ll help.”

“Good, he’s smokin' hot and I think he likes being yelled at.” Tilly said. 

“Oh, it’s definitely his kink.” Nhan agreed.

Michael frowned. She didn’t want to be part of this but she felt like someone had to try to stop this from happening, because cranky Lorca was going to be worse with Pike around. “I thought Lorca was seeing Admiral Cornwell.”

"Yeah but she's definitely a friend with benefits, married to my job, when I want dick I'll just go take it, kinda gal.” Tilly waved off that information. “If she wanted that level of commitment she would have put a ring on it already. It’s only further proof that Lorca, on some level, does want that kind of relationship. He's dedicated.”

“That’s not what I was going for.” Michael frowned. "And I don't think that's what that means at all."

“I know.” Tilly grinned. “Just leave this to us. Watch and learn.”

  
  



	3. New Eden

_ Joint Custody _

Chapter 3

**New Eden**

* * *

Gabriel was invited down to Pike’s new ready room out of courtesy or as a way to patch things up between them. He wasn’t sure which. Considering the man had knocked out two walls, had his furniture shipped in, and had already endeared himself to the crew- Gabriel felt obligated to at least bring a bowl of fortune cookies to the ready room warming party. And he was rewarded with the most brilliant smile from one of the most strikingly handsome men he had ever met in his life. Pity they had to meet like this. “Well, I can already tell the kids are going to want to spend all their time at your house.”

Chris grinned as he handed him a bowl of...fortune cookies? “I like my officers to feel like they can pull up a chair and speak freely…”

He heard the hesitation and the flicker of regret, thinking he had just stepped in some shit by making it sound like Gabriel was one of his officers. Technically, yes, but no reason to rub it in. “Yeah, they’ll love it. You’re opening up yourself to a lot of human resources drama. I’m glad to relinquish that to you.”

Chris breathed out, relieved. “The cookies?”

“My family used to own a fortune cookie business back on Earth. Kinda my thing.” He looked at the bowl and then around the room. “I am not someone who likes being in one place too long. This ship is big, I prefer to keep moving. Assert my dominance by looming over scientists in their lab so when they talk science jargon at me, and I have no clue what the fuck is going on, I at least look like I can touch a button and ruin all the research. The security guy in me.”

“Well your crew loves you for it.” Chris said. “They have made that _very_ clear.”

“Now I know you’re full of shit, Staments would rather feed me to a tardigrade.” Gabriel said. Sure it was the other him, but Staments was in a place that he wasn't going to care about technicalities. And he owed him that much. Especially since this mission got in the way of them dropping him off on Vulcan to his new job.

“I didn’t make it that far in conversation with him. Tilly talked, Staments was pretty quiet. I understand he lost his partner?” Chris looked from the bowl to Lorca. It was a way to leave a mark in his ready room, _the kids_ would see the cookies and instantly think of their captain. The guy _was good_.

“Yeah.” Gabriel shook his head and leaned on the edge of Pike’s desk. There was so much he was still trying to clean up from the other Lorca that he barely understood himself. Having Pike poking at unhealed wounds in an attempt to be friendly wasn’t going to help. He needed him gone, but the bastard was entrenching and going to make it more difficult. “He wants to take another job, get off the ship. Can’t blame him. We have a lot of restructuring to do to bring this ship back to the science vessel it was supposed to be.”

“And I’m not helping.” Chris read between the lines. 

“No.” Gabriel answered honestly. “You’re helping Burnham though. Helping her with whatever rift there is between her and her brother. Just remember you’re temporary, and you belong to another crew. Making them love you, will only break their hearts when you go. They get attached to everyone and everything.”

“Ok.” Chris said and like that, it was over. Lorca was up and moving to the door. He wasn’t sure if that was his way of telling him to stay in his new room since he made himself comfortable or what. “Thanks for the cookies.”

“ _ Captains Lorca and Pike to the bridge. _ ”

Gabriel stopped as the door opened and waited on Pike to join him. Saru was calling for them both so this was a signal. Finally something working in his favor. “Well, at this rate maybe you might not have too much time to get comfortable. You only have seven signals, right?”

Chris gave him a smile, “Yeah. Two down.”

“Can’t wait to celebrate the seventh.” Gabriel smirked and went to the turbolift.

* * *

Another signal, but this time very faint. Pike took the chair and immediately opened up the floor to ideas. Gabriel saw the crew react to that, the warmth and excitement of being included in decisions. He wandered from station to station as Tilly and Burnham bandied ideas back and forth like it was a game of ping pong. 

_That_ , gave him an idea. He smiled and went to Tilly’s station as she worked on the ship’s deflector shields and  _ blah blah _ science. Tilly grinned at him as if he was there to look over her shoulder and learn, but her hands moved so fast he could barely see more than a blur. She had quickly become his favorite because she was unfiltered and said ‘fuck’ a lot. Which he encouraged, to Saru’s dismay. Michael was a close second, but she remained distant and he wasn’t sure if it was something the other him had done or if it was just her being Vulcan. 

“This is fucking cool.” Tilly giggled. “I mean the geographic distortion is working like SONAR.”

Gabriel nodded, clueless. Pike looked over at him, curious if cursing on the bridge was norm. He grumbled, “Fuck yeah.”

“You have no idea what I’m talking about.” Tilly whispered.

“Nope. Here to be an enthusiastic cheerleader, that’s all.” 

“Do you want to know?” She asked. 

“Nope.” He said. “Going to get the same look I gave you when you tried to explain Tribble anatomy.”

“Okay.” She said and waved her hands to show she was done with the modifications. She smiled as he gave her a pat on the shoulder. Captain Lorca, the _real_ Lorca, was proving to them all that he was genuinely worth the loyalty and faith they had put into his Terran counterpart. It made them all feel a little less awful that they had followed Evil Lorca so far without realizing who he was, because this version was the embodiment of everything Mirror Lorca pretended to be. 

“I need to ask a favor.” He said, voice low as the bridge talked about the signal and how it still wasn’t giving them a location.

“Oh?” She whispered back. 

“You want to shadow Pike for Command Training, don’t you?”

She looked up at him, he smiled because he wasn’t insulted by that. He truly saw how good Pike was and appreciated it, it just didn’t serve his own purposes with his ship. “While he’s here, yeah. I mean he’s one of  _ the _ most decorated captains in Starfleet history and…”

“The most.” Gabriel said and she bit her lip. “No reason to apologize for excellence. And it says a lot that you would seize this opportunity while he is here to shadow him.”

She warmed at that complement. “So, can you help a girl out?”

“Saru runs CTP, but I’m sure I can still put in a good word.” He said. “If you do me a favor.”

“Shoot.” Tilly said without hesitation. Lorca’s favors included throwing parties, Tribblesitting and the occasional 'shutting the fuck up'. She hoped to God he was going to ask her to use her new position as Pike’s CTP shadow to whisper about his glorious, sarcastic, bachelor ass.

He leaned on her station and asked, "Can you bring up your karaoke on the this computer?"

"Um, yes?" She was surprised he’d breach protocol like that. But he just let her say ‘fuck’ without apology and Pike was obviously not cool with that. But Karaoke... _ on the bridge _ ?

"Do it.". He said and was glad they had spent time in the mirror universe improvising. The crew would follow his lead without question, even if it was insane. "Next time Pike sends us to warp, I want music -full volume -as soon as he says ‘hit it’. I also need you guys to sing. I’ll start it so he won’t yell at anyone, so make it something I know."

She bit her lip. Ok, this was adorable! _Fucking_ adorable! "Does Captain Pike need to be serenaded?"

"Sure. Call it that." Gabriel shrugged. 

"Are you seducing him?" Tilly pushed.

"If that's a perk of this strategy, sure." He admitted, he didn’t care. Pike clearly was turned on by being yelled at when he was wrong, maybe pushing the limits of regulation would get him so hot he’d beg for a council in the ready room--chairs or not.

"I really hope I'm a captain  _ like you _ someday." Tilly said in awe.

"Because I'm competent, badass and brilliant or because I'm going to sing on the bridge to confuse Starfleet's hottest piece of ass?" Lorca asked. 

"All of the above."

"Proud to be that role model." He said and she pulled up a screen on her PADD. He picked a playlist-- The ‘Party’s over and time to go to bed before shift starts’ playlist. Calm, catchy, songs for clearing out the room. Seemed like a good way to break everyone into the new normal. “I’ll see what I can do about getting you your assignment."

“I still want to shadow you too,” She whispered. “Especially after this.”

“Don’t let Michael convinced you that all that time she spent under Georgiou was learning about the art of war.” He said and said it loud enough that Michael could hear. She turned to give him a frown. “The  _ ShenZhou _ might as well have been the  _ USS Sarcasm _ , and Philippa’s bridge was certainly not all regulation. Nor were her captain’s logs. Or captain’s vocabulary.”

Michael saw the smirk and rolled her eyes. Philippa would have called him out for how he was treating Pike, that was for sure. She didn’t blame him, she saw what he was doing. She wished he wasn’t so hard on him for the last mission, Connelly absolutely refused to listen. However, with Lorca, that was a reflection of Connelly’s superior officer and not the man himself. She opted to get ahead of whatever he was planning with Tilly and offered a solution to get them to Pike’s signal faster. “If we were closer, we could detect gravitational redshift and use long range sensors to get the coordinates. Perhaps we should briefly go to warp, sir?” 

Gabriel watched her look to him, then Pike, then actually look confused before glancing at Saru and back to him. Yeah, two many captains on the bridge. He pointed to Pike in the chair, indicating that all decisions with signals were on him.

“Sir.” Michael looked at Pike and waited for an answer.

“Alright Detmer, take us to warp. Five seconds. _Hit it._ ” Chris said and as warp was engaged, so was.. _the music_?

Tilly covered her mouth to not laugh as Pike looked around at everyone trying to determine if this was just him hearing John Denver come over the speakers. Then she looked up at her captain as he started singing. Holy shit, Lorca could sing!!

“ _ Country roads…. _ ” Gabriel sang, belting it out as loudly as he could manage. Damn he should have warmed up his vocal cords before this. “ _ Take me home, _ "

Tilly got nudged with his foot, indicating she needed to join in. She never needed much encouragement and it’s not like she was the one who started this. " _ To the land, _ ”

Detmer and Owokensun looked up as their captain looked at them to join in. They jumped on board, singing in unison, “ _ I was born… _ ”

“ _ West Virginia _ !” The entire bridge started singing.

Chris watched as Gabriel fucking Lorca danced with his goddamned crew and sang John Denver. He raised his eyebrows. He knew this had to be Lorca’s way of fucking with him, but he saw how the crew just fell in line and embraced the moment. He crossed his legs and slouched onto the armrest of the chair and just enjoyed the show. God, he wanted this guy on his side.

“ _ Mountain mama _ !”

Nhan smirked as they dropped out of warp, then she joined in. Oh...Una was going to _love_ this. 

“ _ Take me home, country roads.” _

And just like that the music was over and they were back to work. 

“We’ve pinpointed the signal. It’s in the Beta Quadrant.” Michael announced. “51,450 miles away.”

Pike wished they were still singing, it would have stopped the air from being sucked out of the room by the impossibility of how far that was. “At max speed that would take 150 years to get there. My unborn children’s children would be lucky to get there. Ideas?”

Gabriel sighed as they all looked to him, and Pike followed everyone’s eyes to him a second later. Keeping  _ Discovery _ ’s secrets was a lot more difficult when the spore drive was the only way to reach Pike’s second signal. 51,000 miles away meant there were _no_ other options than to give the nod to let them crack open the spore drive again. “There’s the Spore Drive.”

Pike was even more confused. Those words...made no sense together. He wanted to think Lorca was fucking with him but the man’s expression said he was serious. And the energy in the room said this was a tangible option. The _what_ drive? 

The bridge crew was ecstatic to share the tech with Pike but Gabriel was apprehensive since he had done his best to crush rumors of the existence of the drive after the war ended. To keep them safe, to keep Discovery flying. Plus, a part of him worried that since Pike was the guy who got the best ship, got it rebuilt after it was broken, would get the new toys and the new ugly uniforms that the spore drive was next. There was no other way so he nodded to indicate they could all share details. And details just bubbled out of everyone because they were proud of _Discovery_ and to be a part of something unique and amazing. To brag to Starfleet's best.

Saru spoke up, needing to be the voice of caution. “Until a non human interface is found, Starfleet has decommissioned it, or it’s navigator, really.”

Michael picked up the baton of explanation. “To guide us through the mycelial network, Stamets injected himself with tardigrade DNA, a violation of Starfleet's ban on genetic manipulation.”

Saru added, “They were willing to overlook this during the war.”

Chris raised his eyebrows and looked to Lorca. He had mentioned a tardigrade earlier. He was being serious? “A _tardigrade_?”

“Water bears.” Lorca shrugged. He hadn’t been here for it, he just got the infodump from Tilly, Michael and Saru when he took Discovery over. But they dressed it up for him, they had pictures. “On Earth, they're microscopic critters call water bears. Out here in space they’re bigger and like to eat mushrooms. ”

“I suppose you had to be there.” Saru said to both captains. 

“Getting to the bottom of these signals is of utmost importance to the Federation. They let you use the drive to fight the Klingons. They'll give us dispensation now.” Chris said and made sure reactivating this thing was on him. “When can it be operational?”

“Once I begin prepping Commander Stamets, 20 minutes.” Tilly replied.

“Get it done.” Lorca said before Pike could. He could skirt the red tape with Starfleet of using the spore drive, but Staments….he wanted to shoulder that. Tilly scrambled to get to engineering to tell him in person, so he knew this was going to hurt.

* * *

Gabriel busied himself for those twenty minutes so he didn’t have to answer Pike’s questions, mainly because he hadn’t been involved in the spore drive creation fiasco. His counterpart had bullied and manipulated Staments, endorsed torturing a tardigrade...done so damned much to get that spore drive working for his own needs that he didn’t want to listen to it again. Fuck that guy. He wished he could have been the one to kick him into the Terran Spore Drive for all that he did to get this one going. So he let Saru and Michael explain it all while he took care of things on the operations end.

“We good to go Staments?” Gabriel called down to engineering. He didn’t want Staments associating this with anyone but him. There was pain associated with the drive, heartache.  If Pike could help Burnham, maybe he could help Staments too.

“ _ We’re ready, captain _ .” Tilly assured him over the coms.

Gabriel went to Bryce and nodded, letting him know to open up a ship wide channel to make the announcement. “All personnel, prepare for black alert. This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill. Spore drive is online.”

_ Black _ alert? Chris shook his head, Discovery was different that was for sure. Singing on the bridge. Mushrooms for space travel. Lorca. 

Gabriel went over to the chair and to his surprise Pike stood and offered it to him. Damn, it was really hard to not like this guy. “It’s your mission, your chair. Trust me, you’re going to want to sit down for this. Spore Drive is ready when you are.”

Chris sat back down and Lorca was already moving again. He looked up as Saru came over and wondered how he would rate the captains he served under. “Commander?”

“Any questions or concerns before we depart?” Saru asked. 

If you're telling me that this ship can skip across the universe on a highway made of mushrooms, I'll go on faith.” Chris said and the whole bridge seemed to smile at that. He wasn’t sure if that was because of the vote of confidence or because he was in for something he was nowhere near prepared for. He pressed the comm button on the chair. “Be bold. Be brave. Be courageous. Black alert.”

Pike was confused but incredibly trusting in his willingness to cross the galaxy on mushrooms, Gabriel had to admit he had been in the same position the first time he found out how the ship worked. Then again, he didn’t have much to lose. 

“Black alert coming online.” Bryce announced.  “ All personnel, black alert.”

Chris braced himself. Lorca didn’t seem interested in music this time, that could be bad. “Let's jump.”

It was over as soon as it began. When they arrived and Gabriel dared look at Pike’s reaction, he caught a glimpse of what he suspected was similar to what the look of orgasmic bliss would be on Pike's face. It immediately went to his crotch. Which was super inconvenient in tight uniform pants. Damn, he didn't need this complication. 

“Wow.” Chris had to laugh it out. Nothing could have prepared him for _ that. _

“You never forget your first, sir.” Saru said.

“No sign of the signal.” Michael observed.

“We are where we are supposed to be?” Gabriel verified, they just dusted off the spore drive and he had his concerns about Stament’s mental stability. Last time Staments was unfocused, they ended up missing 9 months of the war.

“Affirmative.” Michael nodded. 

“Report.” Chris chirped.

Gabriel had to remind himself to stop interrupting. He was only making his crew look to both of them and that was dangerous when on a mission. He chose to fall back to Tilly’s station. He watched, listened, waited. There were humans on the other side of the galaxy broadcasting some surreal distress signal. Pike took them to red alert, he had to grip the edge of the desk to make sure he didn’t get involved. He hated this. All signs pointed to things being peaceful, but transmissions made him feel like it was an ambush. Pike was calm, thoughtful, curious. He was the right man for the job right now. He decided to leave the bridge, go to his ready room, give total control to Pike for this. Nothing good would come of having two captains on the bridge for a red alert. 

* * *

“Captain,” Chris hesitated as he entered Lorca's ready room, this was one of those times he wished they could drop formalities. “We’re getting ready to go over readings and speculation about the signals and planet in my ready room if you want to join us.”

Gabriel smiled at the invite, he was a good man and he was not giving him a fair chance. “I think it best this remain your mission, your brief and you alone.” Gabriel said and gave him a nod of thanks as he leaned over his desk. 

“I’d appreciate your insight.” Chris said and got a shake of the head. “But I understand, and appreciate, your position.”

Gabriel would regret that choice later after they lost communication with the landing party due to radiation interference, but was thankful if they had anyone with them it was Pike. He’d regret _that_ as well after he saw Pike come back half dead from jumping on a phaser. However, he stayed busy running his own ship and doing what he could to save his away team, and the population of that planet, from dying of an extinction-level event.

Saru, thankfully, handled Tilly’s little unauthorized asteroid sampling and subsequent concussion, so when it came time to handle her ramblings on the bridge while she was in a hospital gown….he got to be sympathetic. He got to listen. He got some damned good solutions on how to save the planet. He also got to order her back to bed, and she listened to him because she knew he was going to reprimand her for everything later.

When it was all over, Tilly wasn’t the only one with a headache. He didn’t deal with Pike, he figured the broken ribs were enough punishment for the time being. He felt conflicted himself, because he knew Pike was the best choice for a first contact, that he had handled the situation with the broadcast and the pre-warp planet perfectly. Gabriel was proud of his people for how they handled it. He, however, wasn’t thrilled with himself, with how he was forgetting their lives hung in the balance of all this tension between him and Pike. Tension he was stringing along. He was forgetting how valuable his presence was for this crew who had so much to learn and needed to heal. He couldn't close them off from Starfleet forever, and he wasn’t doing justice to prepare them to leave this ship if they chose to move on.

He was also worried about Pike, because he saw cracks in the surface of his perfect exterior. He was eager to explore, eager to find answers, too eager to jump on a goddamned phaser after submerging himself in nothing but religious artifacts for two days. The guy had a serious guilt complex and didn’t realize how it dictated his actions and that worried him. Especially after Pike sat out the war.

He was worried because he felt the same survivors guilt for missing what he did. The difference was that he was forced to look it all in the eye everyday because Terran Lorca was still haunting this ship--- he saw it in the eyes of the crew, the design of shitty ready room, the way Tilly had to race to break the news of the spore drive being needed to Staments. He didn’t think Pike saw it yet, saw how the eagerness to get back in the saddle with someone else's ship masked how utterly torn up he was that he missed out on the war with his own.

Missing out on the war wasn't all about survivor's guilt, it was a reflection on their paradox as Starfleet Captains who trained to be weapons but were preached at to never resort to violence. To always ask if they were compromising their ideas and the faith their crews had in them every time they chose a course of action.

And he wasn’t the one to talk to anyone about that because there wasn’t a night that went by that he regretted not killing Mirror Lorca himself, and doing it on the bridge where everyone could be assured he wasn’t going to come back.


	4. Point of Light

_Joint Custody_

Chapter 4

**Point of Light**

* * *

Allowing Pike to handle all the personnel drama let him sidestep all of Michael Burnhams’s family. Not that he didn’t want to help her, he just didn’t think telling off her Dad was going to repair any bridges that were already on fire. It surprised him when he found out that it wasn’t a visit from dear old Sarek again, but a visit from Mom. It didn’t change anything-- Pike was Spock’s CO, Burnham was really connecting with the guy, and he was trying to keep his crew focused on  _ Discovery _ not galactic traffic signals. 

It was hard, they were all huge Pike fans now. 

It only increased his urgency to get him gone. The signals became a personal checklist of places  _ Discovery _ had to visit before Pike could leave, so he allocated a few more science teams to help him out. Most enthusiastic of which was engineering, so he assigned Tilly, Reno and Staments to Pike’s quest. Tilly’s reasons were super transparent.

“I hear you set a new personal record during the half marathon.” Gabriel said as he went to Tilly’s station. ”Saru is claiming it as a feather in his cap. Me, I’m thinking you are trying to push yourself to the top of the CTP list for _ other _ reasons.”

“Oh, captain, Pike is totally into you and you alone.” Tilly laughed.

He frowned. That wasn't what he meant.

“Oh, you weren’t telling me to ‘hit it’ myself, huh?” She made a popping sound with her tongue. "Huh."

“I’m never sure what I should be worried about on this ship, honestly.” Gabriel sighed. “How’s your head?”

“Cleared for duty.” She said.

“How’s your head.” He repeated. 

“I’m still dealing with a few residual things from the concussion.” Tilly admitted as she ignored the hovering ghost of her old friend May Ahern by her side. 

“Don’t overdo it.” Gabriel said and squeezed her shoulder. “I’ve had my share of concussions, they take time. Don’t be afraid to admit it’s bothering you. It won’t count against you. Take time off. If you want private coaching from Pike, I'm sure he'll understand.”

"Only fucks captains and above, per his security chief." She smirked and Lorca rolled his eyes. She looked up as Saru called their attention to the front of the bridge, shadow exercises were about to begin. “I’m fine.”

“Nobody on this ship is fine.” He mumbled and then added, “Except for Captain Dipple’s _fine ass._ ”

“I love you and would die for you, captain.” She said and felt, for the first time since her run in with the asteroid and almost dying, that things were normal. 

“Less dying, please.” He said and pointed to Saru who was impatiently waiting for him to stop holding up his presentation. “Go. Be yourself.”

Gabriel busied himself on his PADD, reading up on Pike’s mission report on Terralysium and making notes on what he wanted Burnham to clarify for him. He wasn’t sure what to really do about any of his doubts, because in the grand scheme of things, Pike was probably the most stable person on the ship. However there was a weird balance of damage and dysfunction here, things that held each other together. Maybe he was worried about the glimpse of Starfleet Normal and Ideal shaking them apart? 

His thoughts were interrupted by Saru sending the CTP enrolled crew to their stations and frowned when Saru decided to steal his student for himself. He didn’t care, but he at least had to act like he did. Saru delighted in showing off his knowledge of regulation and protocol and--well wasn’t wrong in detouring a bright eyed ensign away from dealing with him for a lesson session on _anything_. 

What did end up going wrong, somehow, was the mentorship between Pike and Tilly. Gabriel was absolutely baffled by how often Christopher Pike got yelled at on  _ Discovery _ . If anyone would have asked him prior to meeting him if anyone raised their voice to him or even chastised him, he would have never believed it. However, here he was...getting told to ‘Fuck off’ by none other than _Ensign Sylvia Tilly_. 

The weird part was Pike looked _ to him _ for an explanation. As if he ever knew what the scientists on this ship were doing or why, or he wasn’t going to jump on the opportunity to throw the blame at him for making Tilly have a nervous breakdown. He fired off a simple look of disgust and mouthed the words ‘What did you say to her?’ as he followed Tilly into the turbolift.  Pike stood there totally shocked and looked shattered as the doors closed. Ok, maybe that was too far. He assumed this odd behavior had to do with her concussion. He turned to Tilly, turned her to look at him, and asked. “So, not really into his command style after all huh?”

Tilly wanted to cry and she felt the tears coming. “I….”

“You said he tricked you and lied to you.” Lorca repeated her words from early, only half listening to what was happening on the bridge, and she looked scared. Then it hit him, something he hadn’t considered because Pike was the _fucking golden boy_. The goddamned angel of Starfleet. “Did he try something with you? Is that why you were avoiding my hints earlier?”

“What?” Tilly asked, then saw the rage brewing in his eyes. “Oh my God, no! No he wasn’t inappropriate! And No, he did nothing wrong. Please Captain, don’t blame Pike for this! I would totally jump on that if I could, I promise. ”

“He’s not the captain either.” May chirped behind her.

“Shut up!” Tilly snapped and Lorca’s eyebrows raised and she immediately started babbling. “Oh my God, not you. Her. May. Do you see her?”

“What?” Gabriel asked. Maybe this was a genuine breakdown. Oh shit, he really made a bad assessment on how broken his crew was. 

“Is there a girl behind me?” Tilly whispered.

“No?” Gabriel narrowed his eyes at her. In the realm of weird, this was weirder. 

“I think I’m being haunted by a ghost of a girl I knew in school and she keeps telling me the captain is an imposter and she will not shut up. “ Tilly started crying. “She’s been following me around since the incident with the rock in the shuttle bay, when I got a concussion. She’s really upset now.”

“Tilly, you need to go to sick bay. You need a brain scan.” He said and squeezed her shoulders. “And ghosts aren’t real. No matter what stories I spin about  _ Discovery  _ to cover up everything that has happened here, it’s all bullshit. I want the entire Federation to give us a wide berth so we can recover from the Mirror Universe. I want to give explanations for the spore drive, the tardigrade, the missing time...that nobody will want to investigate. The trauma from the war, from the imposter Lorca, from the Mirror Universe, from the war we came back to….it’s very real. What you’re experiencing…”

“She’s very real.” Tilly said and began crying harder. “I think I’m losing my mind. I think she’s grooming me for something, and I don’t know what.”

He flinched as she slammed into him and cried into his chest. He pulled her into a hug as she burst into tears. “Computer, locate Commander Burnham and ask her to come to her quarters.”

* * *

“Is this why you haven’t been sleeping?” Michael asked as Tilly dabbed her eyes and Lorca paced back and forth in their room. It was weird how quickly they had all accepted that their Captain was not  _ that  _ Lorca, but Tilly babbling about some ghost grooming her for something evil, had made the hairs rise on her neck. She never told anyone about that aspect of evil Lorca’s relationship with her, she didn’t want to be reminded of how he looked at her when Emperor Georgiou killed him. This Lorca didn’t know,  _ this Lorca _ had fought his way out of the bowels of the  _ Charon _ back the crew that wasn’t his. This Lorca had gone to Tilly’s side, hugged her and brought her to her room to figure out a plan. This Lorca was too good for them. 

“Yes. S he keeps asking for the captain and says it’s not either of the ones we have.” Tilly said. “And I’m pissed. Because not only do we have two, actually kinda three, captains….but they’re all awesome and this  _ bitch _ keeps insisting they’re imposters.” 

“Tilly,” Gabriel finally stopped pacing. “I don’t buy into the psychology bullshit, but I’ve effectively outmaneuvered a damned good shrink for the better part of 30 years. And I can safely guess that Kat would point to some underlying PTSD from having the people who are responsible for your safety betray you. We all have to put a lot of faith in a captain of a starship to make the right calls, all the lives on this ship are in our hands. Now this ghost shows up after Pike arrived…”

“I swear it’s not him.” Tilly wanted to cry more, she didn’t need Lorca hating Pike for this. She didn’t need him getting fired for taking this out on Pike. “Please, I swear, he’s a really nice guy. ”

Gabriel waved that off. “And he and I have been at odds. We’ve had casualties. Now you’re confronted with the weight of what Captain Tilly is to be, having seen what Captain Killy was. I assure you, any captain of worth has questioned themselves like this.”

“You think...it’s my subconscious?” Tilly asked, horrified. ”That I’m freaking out because suddenly this is getting real?”

“I am trying to tell you that the role you’re looking to take on is heavy. I am telling you that I have a good friend who will not hold anything against you if you want to talk this out. Nevermind that she’s an Admiral. All of us have leaned on her. She’s leaned on us. It’s the unspoken lesson of the CTP, making those connections to people who understand your rank and that you are going to need to reach out to them eventually. Even the strongest break.”

Michael was overwhelmed with how  _ not that Lorca _ he was. Admitting weakness, admitting needing people. She nodded in agreement. “Philippa told me the same thing when she was bringing me a long to one day have my own ship. It was part of the process, even as her first officer. Because there would be a day when there was no one to ask questions to, when I had to have all the answers for everyone and that can feel….suffocating. It’s essential to be able to find people who understand your burden of the rank. Who you can share with, without judgment.”

“Even if I think I’m going insane?” Tilly asked. 

“I think your concussion is helping your doubts manifest in something disturbing enough to force you to seek help.” Michael said. 

“After today, I’m never going to make captain.” She said and started crying. “But you guys are the best and I wish that I could be one of you.”

“If he lets this mar your record, I’ll break his PADD over his pretty little head.” Gabriel assured her.

“And I'm pretty sure that after mutinying that I’m not inconsideration for Captain anymore.” Michael added. “But..”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t count on that either. ” Gabriel snorted. “Get to sickbay, get brain scans. Let me get Kat over here and I’ll soothe over any hurt feelings with Pike with a bottle of good whiskey. Okay?”

“Aye, sir.” She said and cried some more. “I really am so proud to serve under you, captain.”

“Your eyes won’t stop leaking.” May observed. “Stop it!”

“They’re tears. I’m crying.” Tilly wiped her eyes as Lorca put his hand on her shoulder like he half expected her to start a fight with the ghost. “She doesn’t know what crying is.”

“If May was a hallucination pulled from your subconscious she would know that emotion, because you know that emotion.” Michael pointed out, excited. Lorca looked at her with the skeptical ‘So the Vulcan is going to lecture us on emotion’ look. “May is  _ something _ , Tilly. But don’t think she’s a ghost.”

“Alright, I’m leaving before I have to lose my ‘awesome captain’ status because you start talking science and I have to look like a fucking moron. “ Lorca squeezed Tilly’s shoulder. “Keep me updated, I’m going to use this to convince Pike we have ghosts on board.”

"Sir..." She sighed as the door closed and he disappeared. "That man is so frustrating."

* * *

“ _ Ghosts _ ?”

“Yeah.” Gabriel waved his hand as he fed his Tribble a cookie. “The ship’s haunted.”

“ _ What _ ?” Chris couldn't believe he was pulling this. 

“How else do you explain everything that goes on around here?” Gabriel shrugged. “Surely you looked up  _ Discovery _ ’s service record. I mean we were  _ everywhere _ during the war. Sure the spore drive got us there, but how did we know where to go? How did we have it back online that fast? We even disappeared like a ghost in front of the Klingons! Cracked their cloaking device too, got to have something special to slip onto a Klingon ship that is cloaked, right? We used to have the tardigrade, named Ripper, below decks, you can steal hear it whine sometimes. Wish it was still here so I could prove it to you but Michael and Tilly freed it and released it back into space. Some kind of exorcism if you ask me.”

“The  _ tardigrade  _ was a ghost?” Chris had to admit that made more sense than what Saru told him, but he didn’t believe this at all. Lorca was trying hard though, which made him wonder if this wasn’t about covering his ass. Or plausible deniability. He was protecting someone.

“Makes more sense, doesn’t it? Spooky Water Bear travelling through mushroom land, have you ever seen one of those things floating in space? No. Had to catch it and keep it corporeal. That’s why the  _ Glenn _ blew up. We got it off the  _ Glenn  _ after she was a ghost ship herself.” Gabriel made sure to pet Merkin and the coos filled the room. He really didn’t know how the tardigrade thing happened or worked, but by god the scientists tried to hard to explain it to him. He had felt somehow responsible for making them torture a ‘water bear’ and getting Landry killed, but that was the other him. He bluffed his way through this part though, Pike wasn’t going to ask for details. “Staments tried to tame it. They got it to sit in a chair and navigate the ship. Genuine circus shit. Then the Federation said that it was unethical. You know how that goes.”

“Not really?” Chris watched him smile as he told the story, and hoped one day they could come to a truce where he could talk to Lorca like this. Instead of getting screamed at for a mission getting out of hand. He was a little nervous about how close he kept a Tribble to a whole bowl of cookies, but also in amazement that the man petted and picked up his furball pet with endearment. If anything, Chris was a man who believed that how people treated animals was a genuine indicator of the person they were. Even if it was a Tribble. 

“Anyhow, there is a lot of classified stuff we had to delete from records because we didn’t want it falling into enemy hands during the war.” Gabriel paused for dramatic effect, ruffled up Merkin’s fur, and the purring was all they heard. No furniture in his ready room meant it echoed. Eerily. “So as much as I would like to share, you had to be there.”

“I don’t understand what this has to do with Ensign Tilly and how I upset her on the bridge.” Pike hated it in this room. It was small, cold, uninviting. The lights seemed to work on some kind of gradient scale where they would slowly get brighter over time. He knew Lorca manufactured this environment to his advantage, he just didn’t understand why a man who loved his crew that much wanted this room at all. Perhaps it was just for visitors, like him. 

“She’s haunted by a ghost of a friend from middle school.” Gabriel shrugged. “We all have our demons, turns out that hers is a teenage girl.”

“Ok.”

“And how is your search for Spock going?” Gabriel changed the subject knowing that he was not going to share. He wondered if he should give the Tribble to Tilly for a while, but then looked at how tense Pike was and an idea popped into his head. It made him smile.

“Not well.” Chris said and worried about that smile. It was genuine. Mischievous. Beautiful.

“Can I help? I mean, Burnham is my science officer, and her family issues are like a thundercloud over her at all times.” Gabriel said. He chose honesty, because he genuinely did think Michael needed someone to talk to. He made it weird with Sarek when they came back from the Mirror Universe to a decimated Federation. He didn’t exactly try real hard to hide his feelings when the guy probed his mind to prove they were who they said they were. “Had a mind meld incident with her Dad once, I think I might have broadcasted exactly what I thought of his shitty parenting along with some mission specs.”

“Um…” Chris swallowed hard. He didn’t want to tell him he ordered Michael to break into classified documents. He also didn’t want to high-five Lorca for doing something he low-key fantasized about doing for years. “Probably best I don’t share.” 

“Well, guess we understand each other, huh?”. Gabriel said. 

“I…” Chris watched him put his Tribble on the opposite side of the desk as his cookies. “I actually don’t understand any of this, however, I don’t need to. It's your ship. I'm just a guest on a mission. I just want to know if Ensign Tilly is going to be okay and if there is anything I can do to help?”

“Well, if you’d give me privacy I’m going to make that call now.” Gabriel turned his communicator console so Pike could see it, see he was about to dial Admiral Cornwell. “I don’t need to tell you that by inviting Kat into this that she’s going to get into  _ us _ while she’s here. I hope that it goes without saying that we should work our issues out internally.”

Chris gave him a soft smile. “What issues?”

“I do like you.” Gabriel winked and tossed him a cookie. “It’s a shame we didn’t meet at some boring leadership conference or maybe...on  _ your ship _ .”

Chris smiled at him, message received loud and clear. “I’ll get back to working on my mission then.”

“Great.” Gabriel waved at the monitor. “Cause I like to unzip and get personal with the boss, I just don’t like being watched.”

Chris shook his head and retreated. He’d find out how Tilly was doing from Michael. The fact was if Lorca had come on his ship with a Priority Mission they probably would have fought it out in the gym by now. Or Lorca would be in the brig. Or the crew would be plotting to get them together and fucking already. He had to remember he was the uninvited guest and that he wouldn’t be handling this much butter. As Number One liked to point out, he had a bitchy side, and Lorca on his turf would have definitely brought that out. “Were calling the signals the 'red angel' now.”

Gabriel’s stomach turned. He was attributing religious significance to this thing? Personifying it? Two saves, Reno and Terralysium, were all it took for him to stop worrying about it being malicious and give it deity status? Shit. He hoped Kat got here fast. “That’s...spiritual.”

Chris narrowed his eyes at that. Not sure if that was meant as a religious or paranormal reference. “Wish I could share more but..”

“Classified.” Gabriel winked. 

* * *

“What do you mean he’s seeing someone!?” Tilly yelled.

“He was very flirty with the Starbase 5 captain. Even my Mother said something.” Michael informed Tilly about the aspects of the inquiry to Spock’s whereabouts that she would find of interest. It allowed Staments to work on scanning her for an invasive organsim.

“Flirt as in…” Tilly asked.

“Referencing several calls that were not returned. Lots of smiles.” Michael said and left out the part where he called her bossy, to lighten the mood, and her Mom immediately took offence.

“That’s just Pike.” Tilly said. “Come on, if Pike was dating  _ that guy _ you know you would have gotten your brother back by now. If anything is right with this universe, then that man is a sex God and he can use his skills for good.”

“Saru said that Lorca shamed Pike with one look for making you upset _ on the bridge. _ ” Michael moved the conversation away from Spock and the accusations of murder, and onto something more pleasant. Like how much Lorca did to protect her and didn't disserve to be a part of some weird fanfiction romance. 

“Well, that just means he left him turned on!” Tilly said. “He’s into being yelled at! He’s got some weird guilt complex/punishment thing going on. I bet those angry blue eyes really got him going. ”

“And Lorca is going to gaslight him into thinking there are ghosts on the ship.” Staments chimed in. “You think that’s a healthy start to a relationship?”

“He’s being territorial.” Tilly said. “We need to make him territorial  _ over Pike. _ ”

“No, we need to get this parasite out of you so you can think clearly.” Staments said. “Maybe about your own love life and not about the men twice your age having sex.”

“Lorca asked me to play music.” Tilly told him what he missed. “We _sang_ when we warpped somewhere at Pike’s orders.”

“This is sounding more and more like we’re going to need a new captain soon.” Staments mumbled.

“I asked if he was trying to seduce him and he said ‘Sure’.” Tilly said and crossed her arms. “So, our captain asks for our help, I’m giving it to him.”

“By singing?” Staments clarified. “Wait, he admitted he wanted to fuck Pike?” 

“Who doesn’t!” Tilly threw up her hands. “Lorca has eyes, thankfully not Terran eyes, so he can see that majestic man in all his glory. We need to make this happen people!”

“Let’s make this happen by first removing the invasive parasite from you, Sylvia Tilly.” Staments sighed. 

* * *

  
  


“Captain Pike?” Rhys turned to the captain. “Incoming shuttle. Admiral Cornwell.”

Chris nodded. Lorca had retired for the evening and he had stuck around the bridge for longer than he should have. His mind was swimming with questions about Spock, questions about the signals, questions about himself that had been raised by Lorca’s many valid points during his rants. Tilly yelling at him had thrown him for a loop even though Saru explained it to be a parasite of some kind. The chair stabilized him, made him get his head back in the game, made him focus. He almost forgot that Lorca had called in Cornwell for a consultation for Tilly. “I’ll meet her in the shuttle bay.”

Chris took the turbolift and listened to the hum as it traveled to it’s destination. He needed to make sure he didn’t overshare, that he didn’t involve a superior in a local starship spat. Kat would read them both too well, but would leave them to figure it out themselves. The problem would be if it looked like he was prioritizing this petty squabble over his mission. 

He looked up as the lights flickered and the turbolift slowed, then a screech echoed around the lift and made the hairs on his neck stand up. It sounded like a tortured animal screaming in the lift somewhere.  _ Or the bowels of the ship _ . No, that was just his imagination because Lorca had to go talk about ghosts. The doors opened on his level, the lights were bright as usual and nobody else was looking around like they heard some creature wailing. 

It was just Lorca screwing with him. If he could play karaoke on the bridge he could have some god awful recording play over the turbolift speakers. Probably payback for upsetting Tilly. Goddamned child. He took a deep breath and made his way to the shuttle bay, doing his best to exude confidence and look like everything was under control.

Except Kat knew Lorca was uncontrollable. So there was  _ that _ .

He arrived just as she was coming off the shuttle, her professional mask on as she was here for a patient. “Admiral.”

“Chris.” She briskly walked up to him and kept going. “Where’s my patient?”

“Engineering.”

“Working?”

“Being worked on.” Chris replied and she glanced at him. “Commander Saru has been overseeing things. I’m told it’s some sort of parasite but the origins of it are _classified_.”

Kat smiled. “And you want it unclassified.”

“I’m feeling at a distinct disadvantage here, Kat.” He admitted. “ _ Discovery _ ’s been through some shit and nobody’s talking. ”

“Which is what they were ordered to do.” She said and he led her to engineering and they stopped in front of the door. “Sorry, Chris, your mission is separate from theirs.”

“As Captain Lorca has made clear.”

“Yeah.” She said and shook her head. “We’ll talk about _you two_ later.”

Chris sighed as she disappeared through the doors. How the hell did she know everything?

* * *

“Oh. Admiral. Holy shit! I mean....” Tilly yelped as the doors opened and revealed a visitor. She, Staments and Saru all scrambled to salute but were waved off. 

“Ensign, is there somewhere we can talk?”

“Ah….” Tilly waved at the formless blob in the quarantine chamber. “As much as I appreciate you coming all this way for me, it seems like my problem was really a sentient blob.”

“From another universe?” Kat asked.

Staments looked at her, curiously. “The Mycelial network, but possibly.”

“You told Pike it was classified and curiosity was piqued. Don't worry, you're not at fault for him gleaning information from the insistence that it's classified. ” Kat said and then waved Tilly over to a table. 

"Oh..." Tilly said. "So that's why Lorca said it was ghosts."

Kat rolled her eyes. She wished Chris was the kind of guy who would just kick Gabriel's ass and be done with it. She still might. “If you would give us the room.”

Tilly watched them leave and sank into a chair as the Admiral turned to focus on her. “Okay, so I’m better. I’m really sorry I yelled at Captain Pike, I really am. I’ll apologize. And if Captain Lorca yelled at him again, I’d like to say I’m sorry, but I think he  _ really _ enjoys it. Pike that is. Maybe Lorca. I...haven't figured him out yet.”

“So, joint custody is going as well as I expected then.” Kat leaned on the table and Tilly looked more flustered.

“No? _Yes_.” Tilly scrambled to get them out of trouble. “I mean there is a lot of tension but it’s good tension. I mean, we’re all enjoying it. Well, maybe not the captains, but that’s only because they haven’t acted on that tension yet. Um...you’re not dating Captain Lorca are you?”

Kat narrowed her eyes at her. Well, to get her to relax she was going to have to let her ramble about everything that had been happening on  _ Discovery _ . Shame. “Alright, Ensign. Start from the beginning. And Gabriel and I are _just_ friends. As are Chris and I.”

"Oh damn. Maybe I want to shadow you." Tilly said and got smile at that. "Or maybe I really want to make to to captain for the perks."

Kat sighed. NO wonder this one was Gabriel's favorite. "So there is tension between the captains?"

“Yes. And I want to help? And if this is going to work I need help.” Tilly admitted. “Lorca’s so _fucking_ stubborn…I mean...sorry. I’m rambling and I curse and...”

“Let’s start from the beginning.” Kat pulled up a chair and smiled. Definitely Gabriel's favorite. 

  
  
  


* * *

"Any complaints against Captain Lorca?" Kat asked as soon as she walked out into the hallway and saw Chris waiting for her. The hallway was empty except for him and he looked exhausted. 

"No?" Chris glanced at the engineering door. What did Tilly say?

Kat walked and he fell in line with her. She went to the turbolift, doors opened and they stepped in. "He started this war with you."

"And I'm not going to lose it." Chris assured her.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes and selected the floor for personnel quarters. The idiots didn’t even see what they were doing. Leave it to an optimistic ensign to call it like it was.

"If it was my ship, my crew, I'd be just as protective." Chris shrugged. "If Lorca opened the door and let me run roughshod all over the place, he would be much of a captain, would he?"

"God. ". Kat huffed. "You two deserve each other."

"I've already had the mission debrief with his colorful commentary and rebukes.". Chris said. "He wasn't wrong."

"Chris.." Kat didn’t even know what to say. Did she point out how he wanted to revel in the guilt of it all. How having a fellow captain broadcast his feelings about the loss of a Connelly through scowls and tantrums was not only unprofessional but undeserved? No. Chris's damned guilt complex ate that up. She'd go after Gabriel for it. “He doesn’t get to criticize your performance. _I do_. And I see nothing that could have been avoided except this shit with Gabriel who you should have had no qualms about putting in line.”

"We’re no closer to understanding the signals. Connelly is dead. I almost lost Burnham. We saved Reno though, who seems like she's perfect for Lorca's crew. Probably the only reason I wasn't sent packing on a shuttle."

"He doesn't have that authority." Kat grumbled. 

"He has  _ every right. _ ". Chris said. 

"He's going to get worse. Gabriel will try to unravel your composure and dare to have an innocent look on his face when you blow up at him. He knows the books and will toe that line, will write his report to make it seem like Starfleet is the one at fault for leaving loopholes in regulations. He's chaotic when he wants to be and…"

"If I can't handle a little criticism and chaos I shouldn’t be a captain." Chris stopped her. 

"You have no idea what shitstorm you're welcoming. I only hope for your sake that the tension between you two becomes sexual at some point and it's all for the best." Kat summed it up.

"Thanks?". Chris said and raised his eyebrows. That sounded more like Una than Kat. Oh God, Nhan was reporting back to Una.  _ Shit. _

"Alright. I'm going to talk to Gabriel before I leave." She said as the turbolift stopped and the doors opened. 

"Thanks for coming to help Ensign Tilly." Chris said, knowing that she was not going to be in the mood for goodbyes when she left _ that  _ talk. “Have a safe trip.”

* * *

  
  


“Admiral,” Gabriel looked up as Kat entered his quarters. She got here fast and he was in the shower when she got here. He was sure Pike greeted her on her arrival, he knew she’d eventually find her way here. From the look on her face, it was not going to be for drinks. He grinned all the same, “Maybe I shouldn’t have put on pants…”

“Are you fucking with him or do you want to fuck him?” Kat demanded as soon as the doors shut. 

Gabriel shrugged. “Both?”

“He’s got more gray hair than last time I saw him. You’re like a cat playing with a mouse, knock it off.”

“He can take it.” Gabriel snorted. 

“He’s trying to be good. Actually defending your actions and you are…”

“Wrong?”

“Yes.”

“Unbelievable.” Gabriel said and rolled his eyes. “ I wish everyone was as concerned about _me_ when I had to share a ship with _Emperor_ Georgiou. Or believed that I wasn’t entitled to captain this ship more than some unhinged asshole from another universe."

"That's what this is about?" Kat asked. She couldn’t apologize enough for how he was treated when he returned on the  _ Discovery _ . He wasn’t hurt by the fact that she didn’t notice he was different, but by the fact that she excused the other Lorca’s behavior but wouldn’t trust him. Even after Sarek assured her he was the real Lorca. Even after he gave her details only he could know. Even after he fought his way home...only to be held in another cell while they handed  _ Discovery _ over to Emperor Georgiou. Actions always spoke louder than words with him, and sorry was never more hollow. She wondered if letting this deal with Pike slide was because of her guilt, her concerns or her negligence. But she knew she’d let it play out nonetheless.

"Sort of. I'm not giving up this ship without a fight. I fought hard enough to get out of Terran prison onto it, then I fought harder against  _ fucking Starfleet _ for the privilege of keeping command of it. Since, you know, you handed over the brand new ultimate weapon to the bad guy who just blew up his own ship with all hands aboard, without a second thought. So why not make  _ me _ pay for your mistakes." 

"Gabriel.." She said it softly, now was not the time or place for this. Everything was so raw, eventually he’d see the position she had been in.

"We have an understanding--me and Pike. This is my ship. He sits in the chair when he wants to go look for shiny red lights.". Gabriel rolled his eyes. " Don't worry. I’m not breaking Starfleet’s pride and joy.”

“I’m asking you to  _ not  _ play games, Gabriel.” Kat snapped. She didn’t come here to be reminded that she endorsed Georgiou but questioned Gabriel when he came back. He was manipulating her, twisting the conversation back to something that he knew might silence her. No. Not today. Fuck him.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have us co-parent on a spaceship?  _ My _ ship.”

“Is this a dick measuring contest?”

“Do you think he’d whip it out of I asked?”

“Gabriel!”

“Worry when I get him out of the chair to sing and dance with us, otherwise he’s still got Starfleet's stick up his ass and not mine.” Gabriel drank and slammed the shot glass down.

“This was a mistake.” She whispered. Nobody else in the Fleet would do this, and she knew this would go this way. She knew he’d play nice for a day, but nobody thought the  _ Enterprise _ would be out of commission still. Shit, she should have had this conversation sooner.

“Then put him back on his starship and send him off on his mission.” He growled.

“No.” She said and narrowed her eyes at him. “Is this what this is about? Chasing him off your possession?”

“I treat everyone this way.” He shrugged. “The scientists like it.”

“This ship is powered by mushrooms and your manufactured sexual tension?”

“Better than shattered dreams and shared mutual trauma from a mirror universe, right?” He poured two drinks. 

She huffed. Her conversation with Tilly was enough to remind her those wounds were still raw. Gabriel was combative and protective because he was ignoring his own issues to save everyone else. She understood that, she compartmentalized a lot the same way. 

"And  _ I'm _ creating sexual tension?” Gabriel scoffed. “Have you met Chris Pike?"

She stared at him. "This dance is best done on your private time and not during a priority one mission."

“And I handed off the reins when I saw I was interfering. Look, none of my crew signed on to be soldiers. Some of them didn’t sign on for any of this. I can’t believe Staments is still here. They understand regulation, they obey the chain of command and they know when it’s time to play soldier. The rest of the time, they can self-repair by having a captain that isn’t snapping at them to compromise their morals, who isn't an evil son of a bitch.”

“Even though you're encouraging insubordination?”

“My ship, my way.”

“Just don’t kill him.”

“He’s doing his best to kill himself to prove he shouldn’t have been left out of the war. Maybe you want to go sit on his couch for a bit and ask him to point out the shooty part of the phaser on a diagram.” Gabriel bit back.

She glared at him. "This isn't a test of you or your crew, or an evaluation of his sanity."

"Really?". He scoffed. "You expect me to believe you're not still evaluating us, Doc? After all that mirror mirror crap? We’re always under evaluation, you’re just too busy filling in the empty offices at Starfleet to deal with us yet. Hoping shit corrects itself. Well, we're fine."

"I am concerned that you're singing on the bridge now." Kat pointed out.

"Nothing in regulation that says we can't." Gabriel shrugged and drank the shot he poured for her.

"How far are you pushing this?”

"As far as I need to to push him off my ship "

"This is his mission."

"Then find him something else to fly."

"What is this really about?" She finally screamded.

"My crew.". He yelled back. "The crew of the  _ Buran _ who I didn't fight hard enough to get back to and the crew of the  _ Discovery  _ who I had to fight to trust me. I don't care who I have to fight to protect them. And as the records show, I'll fight even Starfleet, an admiral and a phony Captain Georgiou."

"So next you'll undermine Christopher fucking Pike of all people?"

"They saw him on the bridge and looked like their parents were coming in to tell them someone died or they were getting a divorce. Then that golden boy flew us straight into an asteroid field. Got his science officer killed. Then he got Burnham impaled. All after he broke his own ship and hopped on mine. We're broken enough, thanks, I don't need someone breaking us more to earn his latest boy scout badge. Is Starfleet so fucked that you don't have another ship, anywhere, for him?"

"I want him on yours. That's all that should matter to you, Captain Lorca."

"Nice, Kat. Pull rank."

"You're borderline insubordinate with Pike, and you know it. "

"Well he can ask Burnham how to mutiny." He laughed, mockingly. “Oh, that’s right, the whole ship knows how to do it now thanks  _ to you _ . Thanks to being ordered to follow a genocidal maniac to Qo’onos to blow up the fucking planet.  _ Long live the Empire.. _ .”

She stared at him and he stared back. He wasn’t wrong, but was also _so very wrong_. The gray area he lived in. "This better not get in the way of the mission."

"Dealing with  _ his _ survivors guilt is not my mission.". Gabriel said and shook his head. "I have a ship of survivors of my own and don't need one imported to keep me busy. I stood down when I caught myself making them choose between us."

"How bad was the mission?". She asked and he raised his eyebrows at her over his whiskey glass. "And how bad did _you_ make it?"

"I gave him a chance. That's what I give everyone. And he royally fucked it up because someone died. Then two more almost died, including him. So, orders or not, from here on out he gets nothing without fighting for it." 

"Gabriel, you're telling me you've never dropped out of warp into an unknown debris field? That there was another way to rescue Reno? That saving a planet from extinction was not worth the risk? You're just being an ass because he's resigned to not fight back."

"I don't give a shit, Kat. He might have seniority but I'm captain of this ship. My one priority mission is  _ Discovery _ and it's crew no matter what flashy red lights he wants to see around the galaxy." 

"He's a Captain, Gabriel, not some diplomat. You can't.."

"We agreed to a joint custody deal.". He said. "We already played nice and shook on it, acted like fucking captains. He moved into his own ready room, and took out three walls to do it. We're sharing, but I will knock his pretty little ass out of that chair the minute he puts this crew in unjustified danger looking for his galactic Christmas lights."

"He didn't get where he is because he is reckless."

"Neither did I."

"That's not what I meant."

"What you meant is he's the knight in shining armor, I'm the morally gray asshole, and there used to be the naughty leather clad emperor sitting in my chair. Full spectrum. Who's to say what decisions are too far one way or another, right? I do. Because that's my job. That's the oath I took to this crew when I climbed out of a Terran prison and convinced these people I didn't know to trust me to get them home. To outmaneuver myself, the guy who didn't play by any rules in a fight. This ship is haunted, it’s haunted by the ghost of  _ that _ Gabriel Lorca. So I don't care who he is, Pike doesn't belong here."

"Too bad."

"Fine.". He waved at the door. "Then  _ you _ get out."

"Fine." She growled and pointed an accusatory finger at him. "But you're in the wrong here and you know it. He’s not doing anything you would not have done, haven’t done. You’re only pissed because he’s doing it on your ship."

“Yes.” He said with a nod and downed his next shot of whiskey. _How many was that?_ “Bye.”

She ground her teeth and stormed out. She loved and hated him and knew this was exactly how he was. If you could suffer through his bullshit, you’d earn the most loyal and frustrating friend and lover you’d ever have in your life. Sadly, she agreed with Ensign Tilly. She felt like he was exactly what Chris Pike needed. The entire Federation would melt at the sight of Chris or quickly become putty in his hands, but Gabriel Lorca was the one damned mountain he was going to have to climb. Fine. Maybe it was for the best, they both had issues they needed to work through and neither was going to sit down and talk about it. Time to wash her hands of this and go home, she was sure she’d be back soon enough. 

* * *

Chris went back to his room, shift had been over a long time ago and next shift was way closer to beginning. He unzipped his collar and looked for something to drink, something to clear his head and make him truly evaluate what had happened.

Chris reached for the bottle but stopped. He stared at the ghostly figure hovering over his bed. He stared at it, fear threatening to make him leave his quarters and find a fucking phaser. He told himself-- _ you’re a Starfleet captain. You believe in science, sacrifice, compassion and love. You do not believe in ghosts!  _ It took everything in him to walk up and grab the shroud and pull it down, and then something hit the bed, falling out of the fabric,  _ and cooed. _

It was a goddamned Tribble?!?

* * *

"So, in theory, if he was into you would  _ you _ be interested?". Tilly asked as she ate a fortune cookie and failed to get a fortune she could use to prove Lorca and Pike should hook up.

"This isn't your enemies to lovers story, Tilly." Gabriel said and tossed a cookie at Michael who looked pained to be here and it had nothing to do with his shitty ready room. They were talking about relationships. Poor kid. He also smelled like whiskey, despite the two cups of coffee he had before coming back to work.

"He flirts with everyone, but keeps it under wraps with  _ you _ .". Tilly pointed out.

"Shame. We could be having more fun." Gabriel hummed. 

"Captain." Tilly plead and banged her head on the table. “ _Please._ ”

Michael backed her away from the table, concerned that she was attempting to worsen her concussion. 

"Not looking for a long term relationship other than as captain of this ship." Gabriel said. "Sorry. If you want little brothers and sisters you're going to have to feed the tribble more."

"What about the ship….Porca? Uh, Like? Chribiel?” Tilly threw her hands up and frowned. “I’m going to have to work on a ship name. Lorca/Pike is going to have to work for now.”

"Stop." Michael whispered. This was agony. Lorca was amused.  _ Why _ was he amused? "You're sleep deprived and really inappropriate."

"No." Tilly whined and slapped her hands on the table. Cookies jumped out of the bowl. "Captain, Pike is a hot piece of ass and you should totally  _ hit it. _ "

"You bet on us.". Gabriel frowned. "How much?"

"That's irrelevant." Tilly said with a wag of her finger.

"Enough for a vacation to Risa." Michael chimed in. Hoping this would shut this all down.

"For me and my ‘hot piece of ass’ Captain Perfect, or for you?" Gabriel asked. 

"Hey, it's not about the bet. It's about happiness. And I don't want you to break his heart, just his bed." Tilly insisted. "You deserve love!"

"And, as a scientist, you think he's waiting on me to scoop him up in my arms and carry him to my chambers and make him sing?" Gabriel asked and drank more coffee. 

"God yes."

"Burnham?" He looked at Michael who looked ready to bolt out the door. “Is this your scientific assessment as well? You spend more time with Precious Pike than anyone, I was actually hoping  _ you _ were banging him.”

"I plead the 'raised on Vulcan' in reference to your first question." Michael closed her eyes. “And no,  _ Mom _ , I am not sleeping with the captain.”

Gabriel laughed, slapped Tilly’s shoulder and smiled. “Glad you’re feeling better.”

“That’s not an answer.” Tilly pouted at him.

“I need to find my Merkin.” Gabriel said and made a show of looking around for the Tribble even though he knew it wasn’t here. The room was so stupidly empty that one look around would be sufficient to determine the critter was _not here._

“I bet Pike would purr and coo for you too if you’d stroke him!” Tilly groaned as she left, being pulled from the room by Michael. “Dammit. Why is he being so difficult!”

“Why are you being so insistent?” Michael asked. “And vulgar?”

“This is the perfect match and I  _ will _ make it happen.”

“Okay.” Michael said. At least it wasn’t her this time. They went to the turbolift off the bridge, to go back to their room. When the doors opened, Captain Pike was standing there with a Tribble in his arms. _Oh_.

Tilly smiled. “Oh….Captain Lorca was looking for _that_.”

“I bet he was.” Chris said and stepped off the lift as they got on. Chris stormed into Lorca's awful ready room, carrying the Tribble, and gently placed it on the desk. No matter how mad he was, he wouldn't throw a living thing, even if it was a Tribble.

“Merkin!” Gabriel said, excited to see his Tribble back on his desk. “Furball, where have you been?”

“In my quarters.” Chris said dryly.

“Ohhh.” Gabriel said and lifted up Merkin’s fur, never remembering which end was which. “Not sure I want it back.” 

“Not  _ like that _ .” Chris growled.

“Oh cool. I mean, not judging, it’s just someone has to clean this thing and…”

“Kat warned me.” Chris said and Lorca looked at him innocently. “Said you were a chaotic asshole. I wasn’t expecting the ghost stories, the singing, the Tribble in a ghostly shroud.”

“Oh?” Gabriel asked. “And?”

“You owe me a drink.” Chris said. 

“Did she warn you I drank with Pippa? Lost, but still held my own?”

“You owe me a drink.” Chris repeated. “And to be buzzed enough this is all funny and not just a headache.”

“I’ll bring it to your ready room.” Lorca said. “Which is warm and inviting as opposed to my tight, standing room only, space here.”

“No Tribble.”

“Yes, sir.”

“That is the first professional sentence you have said since my arrival.” Chris noted.

“Don't get used to it. I only take orders in bed.”

"I doubt that."

"Care to find out?". Gabriel asked. 

“Not on the first date.” 

Gabriel smirked. Oh, so this was the new game. Good. 

"And first, you and I are going to hash this out. I gave you a wide berth, this is your ship. I know you and your crew have been through a lot. However,  _ this  _ isn't working." Chris said and then coldly added. “I never want to get a visit from my boss about this working arrangement again.”

"You're breaking up with me before we even start dating?". Lorca frowned and picked up Tribble. "But I promised Merkin we would celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas this year and maybe you'd want a Tribble of your own."

"You're insufferable.". Chris felt his tension fade away and actually smiled. "And God help me I like you more than I should."

"But?"

"But this mission is important. These signals have confused the two smartest people I know. My science officer is accused of murder, after these signals drove him to have himself committed to a psychiatric facility. These signals  _ he _ calls a red angel that he saw when he was a child. These things disabled the  _ Enterprise _ . I can't be fighting you, I really need all the help I can get."

"Kat put you up to this?"

"No."

"So this is all you. The genuine Starfleet hero." Gabriel huffed. " _God Damn_ , thought I'd be immune."

“I’m not the enemy.” Chris said softly. He needed his help, fighting him was exhausting.

“I am. A ghost of me is. And this ship is very much that house on the block that seems like a great bargain until you move in and find out that it’s been a crime scene.” Gabriel pet Merkin. A reminder of the other him, but he didn’t blame the Tribble for that. He didn’t blame anyone for how they acted or reacted to the other him. "Fine. I'll keep the ghosts tucked away, but I’m not making them up. The kids like the singing, so that can’t stop now that I’ve unleashed it, and the Tribble likes you too. "

“I can work with that.” Chris said and was immediately rewarded by a softly tossed Tribble. He wasn’t prepared for it to stick to his chest. It purred.

“Tribbles stick to anything. Fucking thing is dumber than a rock, but resilient as hell.” Gabriel took his bottle and waved him out of the room. “I keep it around so I can be smarter than one thing,  _ just one. _ ”

“So what’s the deal with your ready room lights?” Chris looked up at the lights as they dimmed a little more, then followed Lorca to the bridge and handed it off to Saru in the chair before going to the turbolift. Saru was not sure how to take that. Once he was in the turbolift with Lorca he asked. “Is it some kind of gaslighting feature?”

“I like to think it makes me mysterious.” Gabriel smiled as he got a glimpse of Saru abandoning the chair to get away from the Tribble just as the doors closed. “But, honestly, I hate that room. I inherited it with the ship and I’m not gifted with the ability to decorate. I just left it, stayed busy walking and talking with the crew. It’s basically Merkin’s room.”

“What the hell is going on on this ship?” Chris asked, hoping for a genuine answer.

“Built for science, outfitted for war. And not once did Starfleet pause to think that maybe they should have adapted the personnel to those changing functions.” Lorca said and that gave Pike enough to chew on. He left out the part where other Lorca manipulated and forced them all to be soldiers, or that there was a creepy fucking war room he made like a goddamned psychopath. “So, what’s the deal with your signals? And can you assure me you’re not here to prove to Starfleet they left the best chance they had on the bench during the war?” 

"I don't know."

"Great. Now we have something in common." Gabriel said. 


End file.
